Forward
by Arctimon
Summary: The summer has ended. The Ideas have been made. The adventures have been had. Now, there's only one way to go. Finale fic, slight P/I.


_**Disclaimer:** All characters of Phineas and Ferb are undoubtedly, and always will be, the property of Dan Povenmire, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, and the Disney Channel._

* * *

 _ **Forward**_

"Well, Ferb...looks like we've arrived at the end of yet another summer."

His brother nodded.

"We certainly managed to accomplish a lot this year. Except for that giant pillow fort. Turns out we had a distinct lack of pillows. In any case," he continued, "I feel very good about the past few months."

Another nod from Ferb.

"But this school year will be different, Ferb!" Phineas straightened up, a finger pointed in the air. "This year, we're going to make sure that school will not wear away the minds of the outspoken and creative! The teachers will try to wear us down, but we will persevere! All of our memories will carry on! We will be the saviors of the broken, defeated, and the-"

"Three things."

"Hmm?" Phineas looked back to see Ferb holding his fingers in the air.

"One...I thought you liked school."

"I do. I'm just being comically dramatic."

"Two...I don't think anybody reading is going to understand that reference."

"What?"

"Three," Ferb continued, ignoring his question, "Your inspiring speech would have probably been more effective if we were not sitting in front of the school right now."

Phineas looked up at the front doors of Danville Elementary and chuckled. "Yeah, I suppose."

A loud commotion from behind them caused the brothers to turn on the spot. Buford was walking up to the courtyard with Baljeet, arguing with him about something.

"The space-time continuum is a very fickle thing, Buford. That is all I am saying."

"Yeah, some minds just aren't equipped to deal with these sorts of intricacies."

"Are Buford and Baljeet having an actual intelligent conversation?" Phineas and Ferb turned again to see Django and Irving behind them, the former with his blue backpack and the latter with a bunch of books. "Now I've heard everything."

The redhead glanced at his brother. "We're not still in the time loop, are we, Ferb?"

He took a look at his watch and shook his head.

"Good. Just wanted to make sure we didn't get sucked into another rift."

"Rift? Time loop?" Django looked at Irving. "Did I miss something?"

"Man, don't worry about it." Irving patted him on the shoulder. "This is just the sort of thing that you really had to be there for."

"...Irving, _you_ were only there at the end."

"Eh. Details."

Baljeet shook his head silently, mystified.

"Do you have the photos I sent you yesterday?" Phineas asked Irving.

"Yup," he replied. "All ready to go. I just need to mess around with a few minor things, and I'll have it for you tomorrow."

"It's _so_ nice that ya get to be included in all of our shenanigans, Fanboy," Buford mocked. "Ya come a long way since randomly appearing in Dinnah Bell's house that one time."

"I have my own dynamic, Buford," Irving retorted, shrugging. "I bring a certain... _je ne sais quoi_ to the group."

"...Yeah, ya right. We really _don't_ know what ya bring. Beside weirdness."

"Listen, you..."

As Buford and Irving continued on their argument, Baljeet leaned into Phineas, who was busy looking at his watch. "I hate to be the bearer of unnecessary exposition, but what are we waiting for? The bell is going to ring soon."

"Three...two...one."

"Hi, Phineas."

"Oh, hey, Isabella." The redhead looked up to see his next-door neighbor had arrived, flanked by the members of her Fireside Girl troop.

"What'cha doing?" she asked.

"Just waiting for you guys. How was the drive?"

"Oh, it was fine. It's getting harder to fit all of us in my mom's minivan, though. Although _some_ of us took their time getting ready."

"Hey, my alarm didn't wake me. It was like it didn't want me to go to school," Adyson piped up, then looked over at Buford, who had Irving's shirt in his hand. "Buford, would you put him down? It's like you can't go one day without punching someone."

Buford stopped, his fist poised in mid-air. "Oh, c'mon, just a little tap."

" _No."_

The bully sighed, setting Irving down. "Fine. Apparently, I'm not allowed to have fun anymore."

"What you're going to do today is not get in trouble. You're going to walk in there and you're going to be _nice_ to people." Adyson put her hands on her hips. "I'm sure you can manage that, right?"

"Sweets, you do realize this is _me_ we're talking about, right? Not some Bizarro Me from another dimension?"

Isabella turned away from the argument and spoke to Phineas. "Well, should we be going inside?"

"In a second. I want to say something real quick." Phineas brought his fingers to his mouth, and in one loud whisper, quieted the crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Now begins a new year of school for us!" Patriotic music began to play in the background as But this is no time for dwelling. It's a time for remembrance. The summer we had was one of the best ever! The times we-"

"Phineas," Baljeet said, cutting both the music and him off, "Did we not do this whole reminiscing thing yesterday? Seems repetitive, does it not?"

"Well...yeah. But that was yesterday. School's here now, and we're...not going to have as much time to do the things we did during the summer. We had some good times."

"Yes, and we were there for all of them." Seeing the narrowed eyes of Django, Baljeet winced. "OK, most of them."

Phineas was struggling to follow up with something, but a familiar hand landed on his shoulder to stop him.

"I think I know what Phineas is trying to say." Isabella said, giving him her best smile. "He just doesn't want us to forget them. We've had so many good times during this summer, and we don't want school to bring us down."

"That's right. We're all eventually going to get older and move on to other places and do other things. It's best to remember these things now before we forget them."

"Oh, come off it."

The group, whose attention had been on Phineas, turned at Buford's outburst. "Ya make it sound like we're all just gonna walk up and leave. We ain't goin' anywhere! So don't get all mopey on us, Dinnah Bell! Just look at us!"

He grabbed Baljeet and pulled him into a headlock, rubbing his head. "We're the tightest group of people around! Heck, those two (he jabbed a thumb at Django and Milly) are practically married already!" Ignoring the vehement blushes out of the both of them, he continued on. "We're here to stay, Phineas. We're always gonna be friends to the end!"

" _Awwwww!"_

"Really?" Buford rolled his eyes at the group response. "See, this is why I don't do these things."

"It is OK, Buford," Baljeet said as he elbowed him in the ribs. "It is nice to know that you care about us."

"This is awesome!" Irving grabbed Buford and Irving, pulling them into a bear hug. "I love you guys!"

"What did I say about the touching, Fanboy?"

"Whoops." He gingerly removed his arm from Buford. "Sorry."

 _RIIINNNGGG!_

The school bell rang loud and true, and the gang began to make their way inside. Adyson sauntered next to Buford and smiled. "See, being nice isn't so bad, now is it?"

"Yeah, it actually felt kinda good," Buford admitted. He clapped his hands together. "Well, glad that's over with. Now I can get back to my quota."

"Buford, you have to be nice for the entire day, not just now."

"What? That didn't count for the whole day?"

Adyson smacked her forehead in anguish.

Phineas paused once the group went through the doors to take one last look outside. Yes, he may have been a little over-dramatic, but it was like the end of an era. Summer was gone, and school was here again. For now, he had to shelve his Big Ideas for the future.

He thought back to the first day of summer. The one with the rollercoaster.

The summer sure was a rollercoaster, in a sense. It had its ups and down, the twists and turns, and even getting thrown for a loop. But in the end, it had to stop and let its passengers off. Sometimes, summer was a harsh mistress.

 _Such a killer queen it was_ , Phineas thought.

"Making obscure song references again, Phineas?"

He smiled, recognizing her voice. "You know me too well, Isabella."

She came into his view with a smirk on her face. "It's like I've lived next door to you for the entirety of my life."

Phineas looked up at one of the clouds. "I made another one earlier, and I doubt that anyone's going to get that one either."

"Probably not."

They sat in silence for a moment, enjoying the company. Then, she offered up her hand.

"Come on, everyone's waiting for us."

The redhead glanced at her. "Do I really have to go in?"

"Yes, Phineas," Isabella answered. "Have to keep moving forward, right? Seizing the day won't stop for anyone, much less you."

He grabbed on, his blush creeping up. "You know, Isabella...you're really smart sometimes."

Isabella's mind cheered for the silent victory as she squeezed his hand. "I learn from the best."

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Two obscure song references in the same fic? I must be drinking again.

Water, of course.

I have been away on vacation for the past week, so I have not really gotten an opportunity to sit down and write anything. But of course, I can't stay away for too long. Especially when Phineas and Ferb is now over.

I originally had something very different in mind when I started on this, but of course, like almost all of my fics, it morphed into something else. A remembrance, so to speak, without being _too_ overly sappy. I probably failed miserably. Oh well.

Anyone who is a regular watcher of my stuff knows that I have had a somewhat tumultuous relationship with the show. Over the past couple of years, I haven't been doing a very good job of keeping up with the show. I will be the first one to admit that.

But I've caught up, and I must say: the show's still just as good as when I first started watching it. And while it is sad to see it end, at the very least, the fanbase can know that they ended on a high note.

And not add another season on the end of it just for giggles.

...I'm looking at you, Teen Titans.

I've already done this through a different avenue earlier, but to the people who worked on the show (everyone, from the voice actors to the writers), I wanted to thank you for helping make a show that has had a profound effect on me. Thank you to the fanbase for being (mostly) accommodating to an old hoot like me. Thank you to all the readers and reviewers that I've had over the years. It means a lot that someone takes the time to sit down, read my stories, and actually enjoy them. Thank you.

That being said...I'm not stopping.

I hope that the fanbase will still be existent as we get down the road. Even on here, it's not a particularly large story archive, but it's a passionate one. One that I hope to still be a part of in the future.

And I still have a ton of story ideas that I want to work on and share with you guys. And maybe...just maybe...I'll update on a regular basis.

I know. Shocking.

Thank you to everyone. Subscribe if you want to get updates, read and review if you like. Ladies and gents...

Until next time.


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